It’s been fabulous so far! You cannot imagine your business running without your trusted Virtual Assistant who you’ve come to depend on. It never crossed your mind that she’d go on a vacation… yet, she just informed you that she’ll be away for a few weeks and you’re in panic.

Stay calm, there are options:

(1) I, like many of my VA colleagues, have a back-up resource, someone I trust implicitly who is willing to fill in for me when I take a few weeks off. Usually, this works very well. While she won’t cover every single aspect of your business that your VA looks after, it ensures that the most urgent tasks are managed. Ideally, you and your VA determine beforehand what needs to be handed over and what can either done before the vacation or wait until her return, so that you experience the least impact during that time.

(2) Sometimes I advise clients to experience a “refresher” – remember the days when you did it all? I remember returning from vacation and my client had new appreciation – because she had forgotten everything that I had taken over. If your VA has created “How To” documents for every procedure, you will even be able to perform tasks you never did before, in an efficient way. And as a side benefit: you’ll appreciate her even more after her return.

(3) Perhaps the workload and area of tasks she routinely performs allow her to deal with a good portion of the work before her vacation so you’ll be able to handle the rest. Or a number of tasks could be performed after her return.

No matter what the scenario, you need to make a plan. Hop on the phone with your VA and discuss:

What are the tasks that are on her list for the time of her absence?

Which of those can wait until her return?

Which ones could she possibly look after before she leaves on vacation?

Create a shared list, perhaps an excel spreadsheet, with task details, timing, who will deal with what, and any other pertinent information for reference so that you’re both in sync upon her return.

How do you, as client or the VA, deal with vacation situations so that both parties feel taken care of?